Kamal Haasan, RJD, Left support sit-in by Kejriwal, ministers

Jun 14, 2018

Photograph: @AamAadmiParty/Twitter

The sit-in by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers on Thursday received more political support including from Tamil actor Kamal Haasan and parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India which accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of creating hurdles in the work of the Aam Aadmi Party government.

CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged that the central government was using the office of the L-G to ‘obstruct’ the elected government in Delhi in discharging of its constitutional duties.

‘… This is despicable. The Centre must abandon this course of confrontation right away,’ Yechury tweeted.

Kejriwal and his three cabinet colleagues — Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Satyendar Jain — have held a sit-in the L-G’s office since Monday evening over their demands, including a direction to officers to end their ‘strike’ and action against those who have struck work.

They also want the L-G to approve the proposal for doorstep delivery of ration.

Haasan, who in February launched his own political party — Makkal Needhi Maiam — in Tamil Nadu at an event attended by Kejriwal, said that interference in the functioning of an elected government is ‘unacceptable in a democracy’.

‘Interference in the functioning of an elected government is unacceptable in a democracy. In fact what is happening in Delhi and in TN/Pondicherry are not too different. It is frustrating for people who want a change for the better,’ he tweeted.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that the ‘dictatorial Centre’ has made a ‘mockery of democracy’ in Delhi and Puduchery.

In a Hindi tweet, Yadav said that interference in the functioning of elected governments through ‘pawns of the Centre is bloodying the contexts and aspirations of the democracy’.

Rebel Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav also came out in support of Kejriwal, saying ‘the elected government is not being allowed to work for one reason or the other’.

‘It is not a good precedent being set that the elected government is not allowed to work. It may be mentioned that this is not a failure of the state government, but the people of Delhi are being neglected due to the unnecessary tussle between the LG and the state government,’ he said in a statement.

According to the statement, Yadav urged the central government to take ‘initiative’ to settle the issues of Delhi government once for all so that the people of Delhi ‘feel comfortable’.

The Delhi unit of Communist Party of India also strongly condemned the attitude of Lt Governor Anil Baijal ‘by not meeting’ the chief minister and his ministers who are sitting since Monday in the waiting hall of the LG Secretariat office.

‘The CPI is of the view that no constitutional authority in Delhi can be an agent of any political party or its ideology and cannot bypass or neglect the elected government of Delhi,’ the party said in a statement.

On Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that elected chief minister must get due respect.

‘@ArvindKejriwal, CM of Delhi is sitting in a dharna in LG’s office for the last few days in the capital city of the country (sic).

‘Elected CM must get due respect. May I appeal to the Govt of India and @LtGovDelhi to resolve the problem immediately so that people do not suffer (sic).’ Banerjee tweeted.

Earlier, the Rashtriya Lok Dal too had supported Kejriwal on the issue.